"Can you feel their eyes on us?" Grimmjow's voice was so low he was barely audible.

"Yeah, in the trees."

They said nothing more about it. It had to be soul reapers—at least they hoped it had to be. They likely recognized Grimmjow and that was why they let him pass. If Ichigo's hair had still be orange, they probably would have made themselves known.

"There." Grimmjow pointed to a pillar stabbed deep into the bedrock of the mountain. Ichigo had forgotten how massive the pillars were—Las Noches had been a monolith and now this was all that was left. He wondered if Grimmjow felt bad about it in anyway.

"Now then," Grimmjow was picking their path up the mountain toward the pillar. "This looks like the Northern pillar...that makes sense."

Ichigo didn't know how that made sense but he followed Grimmjow up the slope. He seemed to see something in the pillar he recognized and led them that way. When they got closer, Ichigo could see the outline in smooth stone. It looked like a doorway but there were no hinges or clear sign of how to open it.

"Do you know a way in?"

"Of course I do, I am an espada."

He simply wrapped his knuckles on the door three times.

"It can't be that simple," Ichigo asked stunned, when the panel pushed inward.

"Of course it is—an enemy wouldn't knock," Grimmjow answered but there was a smile on his lips, pleased at Ichigo's surprise.

They were both surprised when two figures landed behind them at the same time that the panel revealed another pair of masked men ahead of them.

"Grimmjow Jaggerjaques," they greeted, though no one lowered their swords.

"That's me. Tell Rukia I've come to see her."

A look passed between them. Then one of the two inside the door hurried off down the corridor.

They waited ten minutes before she showed up. The base must have been deep in the interior of the pillar.

Ichigo didn't recognize her at first. He saw two figures coming back down the tunnel but neither were small. Instead, with the man was a woman as tall as Orihime and with shoulder length dark hair flowing over a white blouse. Her face had lengthened out and given her high cheekbones on a slender visage. Her dark eyes were as knowing as ever.

Ichigo hadn't seen a soul reaper in four years. It had never occurred to him that in this new world, they would age.

"Is that her...?"

Ichigo was half stunned by the woman who he knew must be Rukia.

"Yup." He caught a strange grin on Grimmjow's face but didn't have time to question it when Rukia came to a stop before the espada.

"So you came after all." She placed her hands on her hips, a satisfied look on her face until she noticed Grimmjow wasn't alone and all swagger left her, her eyes narrowed then widened and she took a step backward as her hands shot up to her face.

"Is it...is it you?" She could barely speak. Ichigo knew he must look different himself, not to mention his hair. He waited while her hands dropped from her face, shaking as they stretched out toward him. He was just as shaken, and waited breathless while her fingertips found his face, brushed down the side of his cheek as water rose in eyes that couldn't stop taking in every inch of him.

"Ichigo..."

"Rukia."

And then she was on him. Her slender form wrapped around his and he held her back with all the strength he had in him. She stood on her tip toes to keep her arms wrapped around his neck but a few year ago she would have been hanging from him. He felt her tears in his shoulder, her breaths shudder all the way from her lungs.

"I can't believe it."

"Me neither." He eventually pulled back, though he still held her face with one hand. "You've changed so much."

"Right back at you." Her eyes lifted to his hair.

"Ah, yeah, that was Grimmjow's idea."

At the mention of his name they both seemed to remember Ichigo wasn't here alone.

"I can't believe you found him." Rukia turned back to the espada.

Grimmjow shrugged. "More like he found me."

"I always hoped but...anyway thank—"

Grimmjow held up a hand. "Don't. Payment, remember?"

She almost protested but then her face hardened. "Of course. But this time, you'll join us, right?"

"Nope, I have a fight to register for."

"What—Grimmjow you can't just leave now," Ichigo protested.

"We can at least replenish your supplies," Rukia offered.

Grimmjow looked between them. "I guess since I'm already here." He pretended to be reluctant but he was clearly curious to see their outfit.

"Fine, then come on in."

"Hey, this place used to belong to me, remember?"

"Yeah, another lifetime ago," she countered as he stepped past her inside.

"Another lifetime..." Ichigo moved in with her as well. "That's for sure."

She took his hand and looked up to him with a sad smile.

"I can't imagine what it's been like for you, Ichigo."

He shook his head and squeezed her hand back. "It doesn't matter now. We're together again."

They walked five minutes down the long dark tunnel before it ever opened up. Grimmjow walked ahead of them—clearly he knew this part of Las Noches but a sword came up against his chest when they came out the other side.

"It's fine," Rukia waved off the soldier. So far Ichigo recognized none of them. By the looks of them, they were soldiers of the stealth squad. Unlike Rukia, they still wore their uniforms.

"This way." She motioned them through this room into another, much larger one.

"Huh, the North training room," Grimmjow commented. But sparring was no longer the focus of this room. Tables had been set up all over the room and the walls were papered over in maps with drawn in details to accommodate the new world. To one side was a radio system set up with someone sitting listening with headphones. And among all the busy bodies was one small woman, not a hair taller than she'd been in Soul Society, one sleeve empty and her black hair cropped short.

Her sharp eyes had caught him the moment he entered and followed him all way until he was standing before her.

"Captain Soifon."

"Kurosaki," she greeted as if they'd seen each other last week. "Glad you could finally join us."

"Ah, yeah..."

"Rukia get him caught up so we can make some headway."

"Yes ma'am."

They started to move out but she put her hand up against Grimmjow's chest. "Not you."

"Soifon—" but she cut off Ichigo's protest and addressed the espada.

"As I understand it, you weren't interested in joining us last time Rukia offered. Is your answer still the same?"

"Yes."

"Then you don't get the tour. You can stay here and answer some of my questions about this place then you can have a room for the night. You're gone in the morning."

"Fine with me."

Ichigo almost argued but Rukia drew him away. They could hear Soifon questioning Grimmjow even as they left the main room behind.

Once in a quieter room, Rukia apologized for Soifon's behaviour.

"She is very busy."

"Busy doing what?" Ichigo asked.

"Keeping tabs on the Vandenreich. Sorry, there is so much to catch you up on, Ichigo, but we're afraid they are trying to stir something up. We don't know what but watching their movements has kept us on our toes."

"Understandable. Rukia." He brought her to a halt. "Please, do you know where my sisters are?"

She didn't meet his eyes. He caught her chin and forced it up.

"Just tell me."

"I don't. I'm ashamed, Ichigo, I couldn't find you, I couldn't find them. I failed to help so many friends."

He shut his eyes, the disappointment washing through him. But then he stepped forward and held her tight.

"Don't be. You did find me. You knew me well enough to know I'd show myself to Grimmjow."

"It was my only hope—after so long, I started to fear you might be gone."

They parted and she took him further on down the hall. There were many rooms here, very plain, hollows would have once occupied them. At the end was a medical room. Much of the equipment was useless now but anything that did not require spiritual pressure looked well maintained and sterile.

"You should have an exam."

"I'm fine."

"Still, I just...want to make sure you're alright."

He sighed. "Okay."

They talked as he stripped off his coat and shirt and let her look over bruises and old scars. His stab wound was well closed over now and she carefully removed the stitches Grimmjow had put in nearly two weeks ago.

"So he did these for you?"

"Yeah."

"He's a surprising guy, isn't he?"

"Yeah, that's one way to put it."

"How far did you two travel together?"

"Since Tokyo."

"Really? That's a long journey."

"Tell me about it. It was crazy, Rukia, I mean I've been out there a long time but we seemed to run into every kind of obstacle on our way here."

"I'm surprised he came with you."

"He said you stayed with him for two weeks so he'd do the same, make sure the debts were cleared."

"Really? That's why he brought you all this way?"

"Well, that and he said he wanted to see the look on your face." She looked up at this. He winced when she pulled a little too hard on the stiches. "Ow!"

"Sorry. Here." She put a bandage back over the scar just to keep the tissue protected and let him dress. "Come on, I have so much to tell you but you should clean up first. Are you hungry? Tired?"

"Rukia." He caught her wrist to slow her down. "I'm fine. I really just want to hear what's been going on with you and the others. I mean, who else is here? What are the Vandenreich up to?"

She let out a long sigh. "Alright, I'll fill you in, let's go back to my room, we'll be in private there."

"So they have been more active lately." Grimmjow surveyed the wall of maps. One had been marked up with circled cities and dates next to them. "All those attacks in just this month, and mostly around Toyko. Why?"

"That's the question." Soifon stood next to him. "You said you overheard about one of the attacks."

"Yeah." Grimmjow filled her in on the conversation. There wasn't much to tell but she nodded like it confirmed something.

"I think they've gotten their hands on some significant weapons."

"Vandenreich or human?"

"Not sure."

"It's odd, them suddenly attacking Tokyo, when Kurosaki was just there." Soifon turned to him at the comment.

"You think there is a connection?"

"It's his last known location. Someone stabbed him before he ran into me. They recognized him, but since then we've kept his head down. It's the last place the Vandenreich know to look for him."

"I think you better tell me about your journey. I need to know if anything else crops up the way you travelled."

"Yeah, sure, but do you have a few hours 'cause it was a hell of a trip."

Both Ichigo and Grimmjow spent the day sharing information. Grimmjow was happy to exchange his knowledge for anything the Soul Reapers knew that might help him stay alive a little longer. At the end of the day Rukia returned to the main room and met Grimmjow.

"Ichigo's visiting with another old friend. He told me you sustained some injuries lately. I'll take you to the exam room after you shower."

"I'm fine."

"I insist. Your life is my responsibility now, after all."

"I don't know if you want to take responsibility for all the assholes I've killed since then."

"As long as they were assholes..."

He laughed and followed her. The shower was the best he'd had—good water pressure, hot. Aizen sure had made this place to last. Grimmjow knew it had countless generators that could run the pillar for a century. Aizen had made his palace a fortress that would withstand any eventuality—well, maybe not smashing into a mountain—but this portion was still intact and running smoothly. As he towelled off Grimmjow wondered if Aizen had ever foreseen this and wondered what he would have done if he'd survived the Clash.

"You ready?" Rukia called to him through the bathroom door.

"Just let me put my damn shirt on."

"Don't bother, I'm going to examine you remember?"

She opened the door on him and didn't give him much choice until he was sitting half naked on the exam table and she shone a light on badly bruised ribs. "You're a mess," she commented, checking if any were broken then looking to the cuts and bruises on his face where the Vadenreich civilians had tried to subdue him several times.

Last she unwound his wrists and tisked at the deep purple bruising and the cuts.

"Ichigo told me about the civilians. They really didn't like you, did they?"

"Yeah I wouldn't recommend you pay them any visits."

"Mm, he told me that too. Guess it's just Ichigo who earned a pass." She took her time swabbing the wounds on his wrists then coating them in a lotion that burned cool into his skin giving some relief from the pain. He watched her fingers work diligently as she carefully wound fresh bandages around the wounds.

"There." Her voice had dropped to barely a whisper. She began to withdraw her hands but he caught them. "Grimmjow, I'm done."

But he used the hold to draw her closer, until she was flush against him and the table where he sat. "You don't think I came all this way just to settle a debt."

She looked up into fierce blue eyes.

"Of course not." He smiled and bent in, capturing her lips but she pulled back at once.

"What's your prob—"

"Not in here, you idiot." She backed up and drew him off the table. "Come on, my room is just down the hall."

Morning came all too fast for several of the inhabitants of the North Pillar of Las Noches. Grimmjow and Rukia staggered their arrival time in the main hall. Ichigo was already there. He didn't look like he'd slept very well and he shot to his feet when he saw Grimmjow.

"Are you really still leaving?" he asked at once.

"Yeah...kid, what's up?" Grimmjow could tell he was upset. After all they'd gone through to get here he expected Ichigo to be over the moon, not standing here with dark circles under his eyes.

"Nothing I'm fine." Grimmjow glanced back at Rukia and the others and nodded toward the door.

"Come on, see me off, will ya?"

"Yeah." When they got to out of earshot, he asked again.

"Seriously, what's up?"

"Just, I saw an old friend last night. He's not exactly the same after everything that happened."

"Are any of us?"

"No, it's just different. If you knew him, you'd understand. I guess just after everything, I was hoping for a happier reunion. But forget that. Grimmjow I have something to ask you."

"What?"

"Stay."

"You know I'm not going to."

"Then don't go to the Market. Don't fight."

Grimmjow let out a laugh. "Come on kid, don't be ridiculous. We've been through some serious shit together, I'll give you that, but I'm not backing out of this fight 'cause you asked me to."

"Please Grimmjow. Stuff is happening in the world. It's dangerous."

"It's always dangerous."

"I'm just asking you not to."

Grimmjow shook his head. "I'm going to, so just drop it, alright? You shouldn't be thinking about that anyway. I mean, this is it, kid, you've found your friends."

"But not my sisters."

"I'm sure Rukia will help you with that."

"Yeah, she's going to."

"There you go then." Grimmjow gathered up his things and slung them over his back. "Well, it's been interesting. Good luck, Kurosaki."

"Good luck Grimmjow. I just hope you change your mind, and come back."

"Don't count on it." He waved past Ichigo to Rukia and called, "we are officially even."

Then he turned and headed back into the dark tunnel. Rukia came to Ichigo's side and they watched him until he couldn't be seen any longer.

"I can't believe he'd rather be out there than here."

"You can't?" She looked up to him. "Look at you Ichigo, one day and you're already to hit the road again, I can tell. You want to be out there finding your sisters."

"I want to be with you guys too."

"I know. We'll figure something out, a way you can do both, okay? Come on, let's get some breakfast."

Grimmjow crunched on an apple as he made his way through the crowds. He eyed a hoard of bare chested women trying to draw men into what was an old motel. He smiled to himself, thinking about last night.

Rukia Kuchki, the only woman to save his life and the only woman he'd continued to think about after a fling.

Maybe living with the soul reapers wouldn't be so bad after all.

But the thought soon left him as he got in with some gambling and started drinking. He spent half the day throwing down bets and getting his face out there, making sure he'd have a good crowd when he fought—and more importantly, a good pot. He got some info on other fighters too and eventually someone pointed him to where he needed to register. The little man said they'd been hoping he'd arrive and his boss had requested Grimmjow officially register so they could announce him as a contestant.

"Who's running the show up here, anyway?" He asked the underling.

"Master Cino. This way."

He was taken to the hospital—it was just like Haido's hotel in Junction City. The set-up was very similar but more closed off, secure. Instead of being full of drunks, the lobby was full of what looked like security. This Cino guy must really be big.

Grimmjow was taken up several flights of stairs to a private ward. They passed the banks of beds and Grimmjwo saw the sign for an office at the end of the hall. More security lined the walls all around the door.

"Sorry, he wants to meet you personally before registering you," Grimmjow's guide informed him.

Grimmjow wasn't surprised, many places did this to ensure he wasn't just some other jerk who wanted to cash in on Grimmjow's name.

"Fine." He knew the drill and began disarming. As much as he hated being vulnerable and letting them search him, he withstood it for pay dirt.

They made him remove his extra layers until he was down to just his undershirt and jeans and then made him turn and plant his hands against the wall. He had to bite his lip to let the man pat him down without comment. But the hands didn't go very far. He felt something other than a hand touch his shoulder and immediately reacted.

He got half turned before the needle was in his shoulder. The plunger went all the way down before the steel tip was pulled back out.

For one long moment he stared at the puncture wound, his mind catching up to the sickening feeling spreading through his body.

Then he was moving.

He threw a punch.

He missed.

He staggered into the wall, his balance completely gone. The man grabbed for him, he lurched away but fell into the doorway the security were protecting. Holding the knob he was able to stay upright when he kicked out the first man's knee. The guard hollered and reeled back. Grimmjow turned to his next attacker but suddenly the knob twisted under his grip and the door gave way behind him.

He collapsed backward into the room with the sudden loss of support. He heard someone shout and the security halted before pouncing on him.

"I guess it was a good thing we took precautions. You live up to your violent reputation Grimmjow."

Grimmjow didn't look up, but he knew the speaker had to be Cino.

"Wha...the fuck...did you do to me...?"

He saw black shoes and the bottom of a trim suit. He grabbed hold of an arm chair before the massive desk in the room and tried to pull himself back to his feet.

"Slowed you down is all. I didn't want you to kill my men or for them to damage you before you could be of use."

Grimmjow could barely hear Cino past the pounding of his heart. His breaths seemed to drag slowly in and out of his chest. He got to his feet but he had nothing left. Cino moved behind him, his voice low and threatening.

"Did I mention I'm a fan? I've been waiting for you for quite some time."

"Mo-ther—fuck—" Grimmjow's voice cut off. His grip on the chair slipped but the man stepped into him before he could fall. He held him around the waist and whispered into his ear.

"You're an animal, Grimmjow."

Then he let him go. Grimmjow fell face first into the carpet. Everything felt distant now but he was aware of the bodies moving over him. Cool metal closed over his flesh and the man leaned down next to him where he lay. "And I'm your master now."

So many great predictions in the reviews! I will only say this: we're far from the end!

Thank you so much for reviewing and reviewing.

Riza.